Video spots like these are costly at any price

JCPenney

JCPenney (JCP) has had so many troubles over the past couple of years that the list is too long to mention them all — the hiring (and subsequent firing) of CEO and Apple (AAPL) veteran Ron Johnson to plummeting revenue, earnings and stock price are only a small selection. So it comes as no surprise that the retailer has been equally snake-bit in its ad strategy.

One of JCP’s missteps this summer was its “Back to School Shopping” ad, which marketers believed would position the 111-year-old retailer as trendy and fashionable. Unfortunately for JCPenney, the ad outraged many parents, who believed it promoted bullying.

Outraged moms and dads took to Facebook, calling on the retailer to pull the ad. One parent said the commercial suggested that if kids couldn’t buy JCPenney’s clothes “they don’t deserve friends.” JCP did pull the commercial and wound up posting anti-bullying messages on Facebook and Twitter, but this was one more distraction the troubled retailer didn’t need.

As of this writing, Susan J. Aluise did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.